back of a spreadsheet; back of the net

Well that weekend went okay.

An interesting evening on Friday with widget_fox and Z, the daughter of a famiy friend who is studying in Edinburgh. We went to a panel discussion on peace-making in the 21st century. It was part of the Festival of Politicas at the Scottish Parliament. It was an interesting discussion with some practical considerations for my own work on deliberative democracy and a new constitution for the UK. The Parliament was looking very handsome. Nice to be back and to see the Festival of Politics doing so well and also to buy a pint in the bar that I helped build.

Up early on Saturday morning to fly down to London for a UD meeting. Good disucssion on our New Constitution campaign and some useful steps forward on a review of our governance structures (not exciting but necessary). Less good news on the demographics of our supporters. Basically I am the leader of Guardian readers of the 1980's.

Quick pint afterwards then up to Newcastle to see Bluebird. Very nice Italian dinner near her flat. She seemed on good form. Suffering from a cough. Very excited about her dissertation on the dehuminsation of muslims. Earlyish bed. Brunch on Sunday, then some shopping. I bought a new fleece and a new exercise top and then quite a lot of board games. (Monopoly Roald Dahl edition - pretty but still Monopoly; Viticulture and two expansions - very excited about that; The White Box game design pack; Small Worlds - family friendly fantasy themed risk, Flash Point - family friendly co-operative game, Power Grid expansion.) Flash Point and Small Worlds will operate as Christmas presents. As might Viticulture.

The Captain and I will be visiting in about two weeks time. I think we will go to Segundum and also the Seven Stories children's literature museum.

Toddled home after lunch, got back at about 4. In time to present Roald Dahl Monopoly and start a game before it was time for Doctor Who and Strictly.

Doctor Who felt a bit smug.

I had watched Strictly on Saturday on the train in iPlayer. This worked very well. I thought it was perhaps the best pre-Blackpool Strictly I'd ever seen.

Much mulling over of the Seann and Katya Snoggate. They seem not to have been too adversely affected by the publicity. Mid-table is a dangerous place to be if you are unpopular. Katya's choreography was expansive and they danced well. Some people whose opinion I respect are uncomfortable with the BBC rallying round someone who has treated his girlfriend badly and worries that Katya will suffer professionally if she is associated too closely with a scandal and with Seann Walsh. I am more sanguine. I think the scandal will blow over so long as they don't lock lips again.

I was sad to see Katie Piper leave. I think she's a remarkable person and very brave. She also seemed to be begining to enjoy the dancing. She was never going to win but I'd have liked her to have had another couple of weeks.

I'm not sure why Charles is doing so badly. I think he's a fine dancer and I'd expect an actor from a popular contining drama to have some public backing.

Finalist predictions are Ashley, Faye, Joe and Stacey. I think Ashley is probably going to win.

Watched a couple of episodes of Killling Eve and then to bed in preparation for an early start today for the gym.

Here follows a short and fluffy update on my holiday.

Family Visits

My sister and brother in law were in town for Easter. My youngest brother popped in for the weekend on his way to working offshore. He dropped off his dog for dad and the Captain to look after. Bluebird visisted for her last Easter holiday before the access arrangements expire. Dad had returned from Australia.

So I cooked lunch. Dad cooked lunch. Then I cooked lunch again. Lunch was eaten. One of the lunch was a pre-birthday tea for BB, who turns 18 soon.

Then BB went on a three day Introduction to Cookery course at the New Town Cookery School. It seemed to do the job of introducing her to foundational techniques so she can cook with confidence when at uni. Money well spent if it helps her manage her budget and eat properly, healthily and enjoyably. Judging by the quality of the food that came back she's learnt a lot.

Friends

Caught up with some old uni friends and their four children on Sunday. A pleasant lunch and a short walk followed by an ice cream. Four children are ruinously expensive.

Andy nearly joined us for one of the lunches after setting fire to his kitchen.

Drinking

Enjoyed some wine from Naked Wine and had a Grasshoper now that I've tracked down some white Creme de Cacao. Delicous stuff. Had a delicious bottle of Moet et Chandon 1998 to celebrate BB's birthday. Very delicious.

Modelling

Took delivery of my new painting station from Hobby Zone of Poland. The painting station itself is superb. Took about an hour to assemble with a little help from MLW. Holds all my paint. It should allow me to do painting in shorter bursts and the tidy up quickly so that I can do more in the evening without MLW feeling like she's living a Warhammer shop.

However, it doesn't fit in the box that I thought it would by about 5mm. I'd clearly measured the internal dimensions of the box incorrectly. This is a bit of a blow but good will triumph over evil. I've found an online bespoke cardboard box shop so I can have a box that fits perfectly in to the space I want to put it, which will contain the painting station and some other things and be out of the way and tiday.

Gardening

My Lovely Wife and I spent a few days in the garden. Mostly this was tidying up after the winter. The flat is on a corner over looking a park so lots of leaves get blown into it. Excellent mulch but there is a need to clear them away. A bit of pruning. Well quite a lot of pruning. MLW had stern words with the Naughty Clematis and I tackled the Excellent Good Rose. I'm redirecting its energies along the wall. I did manage to get myself entangled in it with a nasty combination of thorns under my arm and in my wrist.

Other pruning and staking and re-shaping happened. Generally the garden looks like someone cares for it now.

We got the trellis for the Corner Clematis up on the wall. This has been a job in the offing for several years. I hope the Corner Clematis now thrives in a it's blowsy purple way. Along side the Corner Clematis went a bird house. Bets are invited on how long this survives being stolen.

We also planted some plants. We have a new flowering cherry with interesting gnarly branches to replace the dead Yellow Broome. A nice white early flowering upright shrub and a striking evergreen perential with bright green and white leaves. Some new wallflowers and some bedding plants for the planters.

Board Games

With my sister and brother in law up there were board games.

I played the following

Power Grid for the first time. Long game but interesting. Put aside three hours or more to play it. We broke our session with dinner.

Blueprint - second time. A game based on architecture. Short game (30 minutes or so). Nice mechanic. Not deep. I feel it's going to be a pleasant warm up game, or one The Captain can join in with.

Camel Up - a short funny betting game based on a camel race. The Captain did really well with the betting and the counting. Particularly when the game is for 8 year olds and older.

Ticket to Ride Europe with the 1912 expansion pack. We tried one of the new sets of card. It worked well and Bluebird through a combination of luck and judgement managed the family highest ever score with a series of about a dozen new route draws towards the end of the game. For a few minutes I thought she was going to top 200 points.

Tsuro came out for some Captain gaming.

Machi Koro with the Harbour and the (new to me) Millionaire's Row Expansion Packs. The game works very well with the Harbour expansion. I consider that the base game. Millionaire's Row changes the ethos of the game. The base game doesn't have many opportunities to agrressively interfere with other players. Millionaire's Row gives you the opportunity to disrupt them in several ways. It makes the game more interactive but sneakier. I liked it, the rest of the family less so.

I return to work having had a good week off.